Humans have been reading for thousands of years, but ever since the invention of television, people have been worried that reading is in decline. The latest worry is that, even if the Internet has caused an uptick in the quantity of our reading, we're reading on screens instead of paper, and this seems to degrade the quality of our reading.
Cuniform Tablet via gabriel.harp on Flickr
On this episode, technology writer Clive Thompson talks about the history of reading as a technology, why we’re worried about its future, and what happened when he tried to read War and Peace on his iPhone.
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Links:
Clive Thompson’s essay about reading War and Peace on his iPhone
Clive Thompson’s essay about the novelty effect
Clive Thompson’s book Smarter than You Think
Hanna Rosin’s article for The Atlantic about children and screens
Amaranth Borsuk & Brad Bouse: Between Page and Screen
Music:
Curious Process by Podington Bear
Oxygen Garden by Chris Zabriskie
Deeper by Phlox.s
Rythn by Podington Bear
Mensa by Podington Bear
Steppin Intro by Podington Bear
[Program Reverie](Program Reverie Podington Bear ) by Podington Bear
Euphoric by Podington Bear
Respiration by Podington Bear
88 by Podington Bear
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Special thanks to Kathy Myers, Herrin Hopper, Mark Bramhill, and Margie for their generous support of this podcast.